Zayn Malik’s New Album Label: Naughty Boy, Wiz Khalifa, Or 50 Cent?

Within a few days of Zayn Malik leaving One Direction, headlines are buzzing about what he will do next in terms of music. Obviously, Zayn Malik is not going to stay out of the spotlight — as he implied he would during his statement to the public when he broke up with One Direction.

Instead, Zayn Malik has been seen going into a recording studio in the past few days since he left One Direction — and it is more than a sign that clues from the past about him getting into rap are now lining up to form a bigger picture.

As it appears, Zayn Malik has been telling us all along that he was going to go into rapping — and there is plenty of evidence.

As previously posted on the Inquisitr, Zayn Malik started working at the Naughty Boy’s studio in London the day after he quit One Direction.

About that post-One Direction split up recording session in London, the Daily Star spoke with an insider named Louis Walsh on March 27 who said, “Top producer Naughty Boy, who launched Sam Smith’s career, last night admitted he had recorded with Zayn. [sic]”

Naughty Boy goes on to tell Louis Walsh about Zayn Malik on March 27, “I can’t deny the fact that we have made music together… Zayn is going to feature on my next album. It’s a good time for Zayn to showcase what he can really do. [sic]”

Long story short (in this author’s opinion), maybe Zayn Malik and Naughty Boy are both trying to impress 50 Cent or Wiz Khalifa.

Who is Naughty Boy commonly affiliated with? — Wiz Khalifa. Who in the rap world has Zayn Malik often been associated with? — Naughty Boy, 50 Cent, and Wiz Khalifa. The only two people who aren’t really connected here are Naughty Boy and 50 Cent — but Naughty Boy knows 50 Cent is hot for Zayn Malik.

There are more links between Zayn Malik, Naughty Boy, 50 Cent, and Wiz Khalifa than you would think — especially when you put things on a timeline — and, over time, the relationships between the four have only grown stronger.

In August of 2013, Zayn Malik was pictured with Wiz Khalifa at the VMAs. Then, shortly afterward, Naughty Boy first produced music with Wiz Khalifa at the end of 2013 that resulted in the 2014 star-studded compilation album called Hotel Cabana.

Wiz Khalifa’s part in “Think About It” with Ella Eyre from Hotel Cabana had a lot of success, and he was destined to work with Naughty Boy again.

In fact, in a Rolling Stone interview in November 2013 about Hotel Cabana, the interviewer noted that Wiz Khalifa was the only non-Brit on the album.

About only using Wiz Khalifa as an outsider, Naughty Boy said, “I wanted one international feature. For that song, in particular, I wanted a rapper. This ‘hotel’ is for like, the rich and famous and I needed a flamboyant rapper. I think Wiz encompasses it. He’s the rapper of our generation… So, I reached to him via my manager. He did it for free. He literally loved it that much. [sic]”

In July 2014, Zayn Malik announced he would be part of a collaboration with Naughty Boy, and in August 2014, Naughty Boy talked about working on the next One Direction single “One Chance to Dance.”

Press Party also stated about “One Chance to Dance,” “Naughty Boy (real name: Shahid Khan) co-wrote the song with 1D band member Zayn Malik.”

In the Bustle article about Naughty Boy producing One Direction’s new album Four in August of 2014, Wiz Khalifa and Zayn Malik were mentioned in relationship to each other.

In particular they state, “‘Think About It’ [Wiz Khalifa’s song] has a little bit of a retro flair to it — that’s an angle One Direction hasn’t explored yet! Of course, you need to imagine Malik taking Wiz Khalifa’s place in the song, spitting a couple of his own expertly written verses. Obviously. [sic]”

Obviously, Wiz Khalifa is a big fan of Naughty Boy — and Naughty Boy is highly connected to Zayn Malik of One Direction. Despite the fact that Bustle and others felt that Naughty Boy and Zayn Malik working on rap-style songs for One Direction’s album was a good idea — the rest of One Direction did not feel that way.

In October of 2014, Zayn Malik’s songs that he co-produced with Naughty Boy for the One Direction album Four were cut, according to UnReality TV — leaving some hurt feelings for Naughty Boy and Zayn Malik’s rap dreams. Could it have been the very thing that started Zayn Malik to thinking about his need to become a rapper?

Fast forward on the timeline, and there is not a lot of interaction between Zayn Malik, Naughty Boy, Wiz Khalifa, or 50 Cent during the early months of 2015. Around the first of March, a few weeks before Zayn Malik quits One Direction — this all changes.

As previously reported by this author for the Inquisitr, 50 Cent told the Sun around March 1 that, “If Zayn wants a rap career, just because of who he is, he is going to sell records. But if he wants to be credible he has to be with the right people. I’d happily sign him up to my label, mentor him and have him working with the biggest rappers on the planet. [sic]”

Also on March 1, sources like the Mirror reported that Zayn Malik would appear on the next Naughty Boy album.

About Zayn Malik, Naughty Boy said, “It’s a good time for Zayn to showcase what he can really do… I don’t think that is being fully exploited with the band because there are five people and it needs to be balanced out. [sic]”

On the same initial day of March, MTV News stated, “A Naughty Boy and Zayn collab can only signal success.”

On March 3, Zayn Malik said he was sick in Australia, got on a plane, and flew to Los Angeles to party with none other than Wiz Khalifa.

The Mirror says, “Fans spotted the singer with Wiz, Louis and his girlfriend Eleanor Calder in a club in Los Angeles before the band mates headed to Japan and Zayn also partied with Mike Navarra from Sony Records. [sic]”

What is interesting about that is that Zayn Malik flew over 9,000 miles to Los Angeles from Australia — and then traveled from L.A. to Japan in a short period of time. Was it all about seeing Eleanor Calder — or was it so Zayn Malik and Wiz Khalifa could sort out his record deal plans for when he quit One Direction?

Obviously, Zayn Malik is going to make music with Naughty Boy. However, the final mystery here is which label he will sign up with. Is Zayn Malik leaning toward signing on with 50 Cent — or is there a chance that Wiz Khalifa might be helping Zayn Malik make a major rap career decision?

Or, in an unexpected turn of events, will Naughty Boy and Zayn Malik form their own label? At this point, it is all rumors and speculation.